Zydrunas Ilgauskas

I’ve lost count of how many centers the Miami Heat have under contract. Roughly the size of the Orc army in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, by my guess. But I could be off by a few. But they might add one more — Erick Dampier. The Miami Herald was doing a little speculating.…

The Miami Heat didn’t remodel. They had a field day with a wrecking ball, ground the roster into a paste, and sold the remains to David Kahn. Brilliant stars, solid role players, and veteran contributors replaced the Heat that were, as Miami’s contract writers faced a hell of a summer rush. To say that the…

If the uber-talented 2010-11 Miami Heat want to win an NBA Championship next season, let alone break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins, it would serve them well to remember that those Bulls were nearly as dominant on defense as they were on offense. The 95-96 Bulls were certainly a historically effective…

Cleveland fans aren’t dealing with the loss of one favorite son. They’re dealing with two. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a Cavalier for 14 years, headed to Miami with LeBron James to try and win a championship with his friend. James’ betrayal was “king” in Cleveland. Get it? “King?” As in, LeBron James, “King James?” It’s a pun,…

It’s the question a lot of basketball people were asking after Miami pulled off the LeBron/Wade/Bosh coup: Who protects the rim on defense? Who is your real big man? The answer: Joel Anthony. And Dexter Pittman is in there too. Miami re-signed Joel Anthony to a five-year, $18 million deal, according to our own Ira…

Kind of hard to picture Big Z in any uniform but Cleveland’s. But the tough week for that city continues. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is going to sign a deal to join the Miami Heat, according to Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Terms of the deal are not yet public. Along with Juwan Howard, Ilgauskas…

This should make Cavs happy. Did I say happy? I meant, “feel like they were kicked in the back of the head after getting hit in the groin with a tire iron.” Mike Wallace of the Miami Herald reports that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is “looking into the option” of joining LeBron James, a close personal friend,…

This should make Cavs happy. Did I say happy? I meant, “feel like they were kicked in the back of the head after getting hit in the groin with a tire iron.” Mike Wallace of the Miami Herald reports that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is “looking into the option” of joining LeBron James, a close personal friend,…

Mike Brown is getting some love from teammates the day after he was kicked to the curb despite two 60-win seasons in a row. The Cleveland Plain Dealer asked around and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams had their former coach’s back. Big Z, take it away: “I have nothing but good things to say about…

Zydrunas Ilgauskas was hurt when he was traded to clear salary cap space to bring in Antawn Jamison to Cleveland. But he came back, because he loved the fans and loved the city. But now he’s got to do what is best for him. He wants to play another year or two, and while he…

The Chicago Bulls were neither deep enough nor talented enough to pose much of a threat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they competed. They worked defensively and made things as difficult as they could for LeBron and co., but facing an opponent with so many scoring options and such chemistry ultimately proved to be too…

There’s been plenty of argument on whether or not the Cavs should be allowed to re-sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas after parting ways with him in a trade at the deadline, but not much analysis on why they’re allowed to re-sign him. As is the case with almost every cap-related issue, we turn to Larry Coon. Coon…

There isn’t a roster in the league that you could look up and down and say “Ehh, they couldn’t use another big man.” That’s the very reason that the Big Z-Cleveland release-and-catch is so offensive to so many teams; the move doesn’t seem like it should be legal, sure, but those who have been the…

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a fine basketball player. He’s been as solid as a rock for Cleveland over the years, and though his old, tired legs aren’t quite the injured, tired legs they used to be, he’s still a worthy contributor for a team that’s going places. But make no mistake: that team that’s going places…

In 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers completed one of the most one-sided trades in the history of the league, sending Kwame Brown and what was, at that point, complete unknown Marc Gasol to the Memphis Grizzlies (along with Javaris Crittenton…yeah) for franchise player Pau Gasol. Coaches and league personnel were flabbergasted at the questionable nature…

UPDATE 2/26 8:22 am: After the game Shaq did not have a wrap or splint on his his sprained thumb. Coach Mike Brown said he will not play Friday against Toronto and he will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the damage. 2/25 9:33 pm: It’s one of the great NBA ironies…

Update 11:50 pm: The Mavericks are not alone, it turns out. The Atlanta Hawks would like to talk to Ilgauskas, too, if (when, really) Washington buys him out. His agent, Herb Rudoy, said the Hawks are a team Big Z would consider. He’ll probably end up back with the Cavs, but he can milk them…

At first I hated the LeBron-Kobe puppet commercials, then I started to like them, then I loathed them, and now I’ve kind of come to terms with them. Unlike the advertisements for Tyler Perry’s ‘House of Pain’ (very funny), my skin no longer crawls when I see puppets that do not resemble the stars behaving…